Originally Posted by Nancy1999 (Post 4558328)

You have a lot more confidence in the “science” of nutrition than I do. I only took one college level class, but the most important thing I learned was there is so much disagreement among the “experts” that it’s not funny. Real vitamins vs synthetic vitamins has been a hot topic for years and you will find experts on both sides of the equation. Gemy posted a thread today, that said one out of three dogs will get cancer and over half of those dogs will die of cancer. I don’t know if you’ve ever studied research methodology, but it’s extremely limited and it often takes years to prove anything. The status quo, meaning whatever is thought of at the moment to be right, should be kept in place until there are many studies to refute it. As long as something isn’t causing eminent danger, it’s okay. Some of the preliminary information is that synthetic vitamins can do more harm than good and cause free radicles to run amuck. We do know that, “Free radicals are highly reactive and have the potential to cause damage to cells, including damage that may lead to cancer." Antioxidants and Cancer Prevention - National Cancer Institute. Because most kibble has to be baked at supper high temperatures, the vitamins have to be added after baking and in most cases these are synthetic vitamins. Not all, some companies are using real vitamins found in nature. Many scientists are saying, it’s might be safer to get your vitamins from whole foods or a vitamin that has been tested and proven to work at a cellular level. The bottom line is we don’t know that much and I doubt any dog food company is going to do research to see if the synthetic vitamins they use in kibble may cause cancer. There is no benefit for them to do this study, and it could end up harming them. So in my opinion, the more vitamins we can give our dogs in the form of real food, the better.

Originally Posted by 107barney (Post 4558368)

I think cancer is more related to breed than lifestyle and thank goodness we don't have a high incidence of it in yorkies. I don't know about the debate regarding synthetic vitamins but I have dogs age 15 who have eaten synthetic vitamins their entire lives. No cancer. I have to go by my experience at this point on some things, as we all do.

I have to agree that many dog food companies (especially the ones lacking scientists or small niche companies) won't do research on vitamins (or even do research at all!). That's why I just have to stay with companies who have done at least some research and hire experts in nutrition who have PhDs etc.

Originally Posted by Nancy1999 (Post 4558376)

Again, I don't see things that black and white, lots of people have smoked all their lives and never got cancer, not everyone who smokes get cancer. I'm certainly not saying that synthetic vitamins will cause cancer, but there's a lot of new research on the subject and many doctors are recommending humans avoid vitamin supplements. I'm all for research, but we need independent health organizations doing this type of research.

Originally Posted by 107barney (Post 4558380)

I'm not black and white either. It is very difficult to balance a dog's diet without anything synthetic when the dog is 6 pounds unless you want to add all kinds of things to it, which I don't. I don't trust independent organizations all that much - look at independent labs, just as an example. They all have their own motivations.

Originally Posted by gemy (Post 4558396)

For cancer I think some have very real studies showing a concerning breed prominent tendency. Osteosarcomas and hemangiosarcomas to name two fairly common cancers in certain breeds. A confirmed genetic link as far as I am aware has not been found.


For nutrition I am more like Linda I go with a vet and nutritionist to create my dogs diet. I have some very very basic knowledge.